NHL
Willie Mitchell played in 907 National Hockey League games over parts of 15 seasons with six teams, twice for Stanley Cup winners.
He was the Florida Panthers captain in this odd campaign of unforeseen regular-season success and then a surprising playoff failure. Unfortunately, Mitchell didn’t have as much to do with all of that as he would have liked.
With a history of concussions behind him, Mitchell started off the 2015-16 well enough but didn’t play in another game after Jan. 18 due to concussion-related symptoms. He skated some and practiced a little, but never played again. At 39, he mostly likely won’t again. His contract is up, he’d be a free agent and he has told his teammates of his intentions. The Panthers have not announced his retirement but essentially confirmed he would not be returning.
Mitchell, a defenseman, wasn’t much of an offensive threat. He never scored more than five goals in a season. He was, however, a leader and a teacher. The Panthers’ young players could not have praised him more highly as they cleaned out their lockers on Tuesday in Sunrise, Florida, following their elimination from the playoffs by the New York Islanders.
“He wasn’t captain by accident,” Florida forward Shawn Thornton told the Associated Press. “You could see it, even in the playoffs, he wasn’t playing but he was around, doing whatever it took, all the intangibles. If anybody needed anything, nobody went without with him around. He was the ultimate teammate.”
Glamor? Glory? Mitchell never piled up much in those categories. Respect? Well, there he was a champion. Teams don’t win just because they have superstars. They win because there’s a guy like Mitchell around to counsel, to nurture and to pass along the hard-earned lessons of a life in the game.
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman
Louis Vuitton’s New Approach to Charity
-
Correa joined the Mets with a $315 million contract. Recently, baseball player Carlos Correa announced that he had cut...
-
Oklahoma and Texas will depart from the college sports conference at the end of the season. The Big 12...
-
Robert Kraft wants to re-sign Brady just long enough that he can retire as a Patriot. Earlier this week,...
-
The skilled third-baseman will be enshrined in Cooperstown. Scott Rolen is one of the most skilled and recognized third-basemen...
-
Brady’s 23rd football season has ended. On Monday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys went head-to-head for...
-
Smith has been fired after one season with the team. Over the weekend, the owners of the Houston Texans...
-
Pelé passed due to complications related to colon cancer. On Thursday night, the sporting world received unfortunate news: Pelé,...
-
His return heralded a victory over the Phoenix Suns. On Sunday, Houston Rockets coach Stephen Silas needed to take...
-
Mayfield will be available on waiver to other NFL teams. After an underwhelming performance in his current role as...
-
Mike White led the team to a decisive victory over the Bears over the weekend. On Saturday, the New...
-
The game has been moved out of New York due to an encroaching snowstorm. This weekend, the Buffalo Bills...
-
Negative pushback prompted the team to give the role to someone else. Recently, the Brooklyn Nets have been in...